The instructions came first, and they are dated. Olzhas Bektenov told regional akims to conclude this year’s contracts on time and to finish every planned repair campaign by the end of the year. Applications for 2027 projects go onto the national project’s electronic platform by 1 September and competitive procedures close by 1 December. Baiterek Holding is to secure financing for everything declared this year by 1 September. The industry ministry is to speed up state expertise of project documentation, finish offtake contract work by 1 September and adopt unified standards for utility meters by the same date. Coordination goes to Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev. In Bektenov’s own wording, every manager carries personal responsibility for hitting the targets and delivering the measures on time.
Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov added the capital figures our morning item did not have. Some 7.3 GW of new generating capacity worth 6.2 trillion tenge is planned by 2029, of which 6,484 MW is new build and 825 MW replacement. Networks take 1.6 thousand km of heat lines for 1.3 trillion tenge and 77.5 thousand km of electricity lines for 2.7 trillion. Wear by 2029 is to fall from 52% to 42% on heat and from 74% to 45% on electricity.
Then the grid answered.
On Tuesday the load-shedding automatics cut supply to more than 6,000 homes and about 1,000 organisations on the left bank of Atyrau. The regional administration listed the causes as anomalous heat, a deficit of generating capacity, emergency repairs at power plants and overload of the energy system. The immediate trigger was excessive load on the inter-regional networks carrying power toward Mangistau region. Regional consumption reached 1,154 MW. A MAEK unit is under repair and water in the Zhayyk has fallen, which cuts generation further.
The emergency line has taken more than 40,000 complaints in seven months.
A 20% reserve margin is a 2029 target. Load-shedding automatics are a 2026 fact.
Akim Bolat Akchulakov said personal responsibility for the city’s power supply rests with the city akim, and that he is keeping the question under his own control.
The same day, the energy ministry’s oversight committee said there are no systemic problems with electricity. Its acting chairman, Yernar Khassenov, was speaking about Almaty, where he said technological disruptions on the lines have fallen threefold over three years and every incident is resolved within three hours.
The distance between a 2029 reserve target and a July evening in Atyrau is where each of the prime minister’s deadlines will be tested.